Amazon Sees Immediate Backlash on Prime Price Increase

Amazon’s decision to raise the price of an Amazon Prime subscription to $99 is having an immediate backlash. We wrote that even at $99 Prime is still a no-brainier:

Amazon Prime, even at $99/year, is an incredible value. In addition to free 2 day shipping and deeply discounted overnight shipping, Amazon Prime customers get access to their e-book lending library, free streaming videos and other deals.1

It seems not everyone agrees with this sentiment. According to MSNBC, the company has seem a major down-tick in its popularity among customers. CNBC cited a recent Brand Keys survey – Brand Keys, according to their Facebook page “specializes in brand equity and engagement metrics that serve as the most accurate benchmark available for brand architecture, tracking and strategic communications studies.”2 In this recent survey, “Amazon’s rating fell from 93 percent to 83 percent following the price hike.”3 Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys, noted that this is a normal reaction, however. When customers face a change, the tendency is to overreact:

Based on immediate Prime member reactions, they may have underestimated the negative effects of the increase…Consumer expectations are always on the increase, and when it comes to online retail, they operate in a ‘what-have-you-done-for-me-recently?’ paradigm. Price increases weren’t what Prime Members were expecting.4

Even with this downward move in the Brand Keys survey, Amazon is still far and away the number one ranked retailer. It seems more likely that this is just a momentary blip.